


Promise

by gotham_ruaidh



Series: Gotham Writes for Imagine Claire & Jamie [138]
Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23760514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gotham_ruaidh/pseuds/gotham_ruaidh
Summary: Set during 05x09 "Monsters and Heroes"
Relationships: Claire Beauchamp/Jamie Fraser
Series: Gotham Writes for Imagine Claire & Jamie [138]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/345047
Comments: 11
Kudos: 92





	Promise

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted at [Imagine Claire & Jamie](https://imagineclaireandjamie.tumblr.com/post/615931892938784768/prompt-promise) on tumblr

He wasn’t entirely surprised to find himself standing in the passageway once more.

It wasn’t dark, yet it wasn’t light, either. Similar to the half-light of dusk or dawn, when the familiar shapes of the world became formless shadows.

Four times now he had stood here.

Strange that the first time hadn’t been after his flogging - perhaps because he had every will to live, to survive, to avenge. No, the first time in the passage he had only caught a glimpse before the cold, cold stones of the abbey floor pulled him awake, the wound at the back of his head still seeping blood.

The second - at the abbey again, but this time he recognized the passage for what it was. His body was healing, but his mind, his soul - those wounds he did not care to heal. Not when it would be so easy to walk away from it all, to leave behind the horrors of that cell. Especially when his wife’s touch only pushed him further down the passageway. Only the scent of lavender had pulled him awake this time - surprised and hurt and confused, body roiling with tension.

The third - after Culloden, when he wanted so desperately to be dead. Claire was with him in that passageway, that time - his worst fear realized, that she and the bairn had not survived their passage through the stones. He had reached for her, his anchor - but she couldn’t touch him. The searing pain in his leg had pulled him awake this time - cursing, spluttering, so angry to be alive.

And now, this time. He had survived the axe, and Wentworth, and the duel, and the loss of his wife and two daughters, and the loss of his son, and the loss of his culture and rights and freedom after Culloden, and the loss of his land and extended family. 

By the grace of God, his wife had been restored to him. But now - now, a wee snake would get the best of him. 

The smallest things always had the largest impact.

The passage had not changed since his first visit, thirty years before. It was so quiet. No colors. Very cold.

The pull was undeniable.

He took one slow step, than another.

So cold.

Another step.

Claire’s scent - her sweat, and the tang of crushed plants - overwhelmed him.

“Sassenach,” he rasped.

And then, like the last time, she was there. Hair all curled around her face. So serene and beautiful.

She was the beat of his heart. The poisoned blood in his veins. The marrow of his bones.

“Touch me,” he pleaded. Like the last time.

But this time, she did. Hands and breasts and lips. Enveloping him, permeating him. Beseeching him to stay alive.

Her voice and heart warmed him.

Her soul stirred him.

He gripped onto her. Turned away from the portal, with Claire tucked against his side.

Together.

He gasped. Returned to their bed - their sanctuary. Tasted the salt on Claire’s lips as she kissed him alive.


End file.
